Malawi’s First Lady Professor Gertrude Mutharika on Tuesday December 3 officially accepted her honorary professorship before students in the Department of Public Health of Peking University in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China.
The First Lady was honored with a professorship in Public Health by the Peking University School of Public in November 2017 and as part of the acceptance of the accolade, the University prepared a grand ceremony for her to address the students of the University.
Present at the function which took place at the Peking University School of Public Health campus in Beijing were Prof. Qimin Zhan, Executive Vice President of Peking University; Prof. Qingyue Meng, Dean of School of Public Health at Peking University; Hon. Jappie Mhango, Malawi’s Minister of Health and Population; Hon. Martha Ngwira, Malawi’s Deputy Minister of Education; Dr Robert Egolet, Head of Peking Research in Malawi; among other invited dignitaries.
In her address, Professor Mutharika expressed gratitude to the President of the People’s Republic of China and the leadership of Peking University. She also thanked the President of Malawi Professor Peter Mutharika for his inspiration both as a President and husband.
After the extraordinary award presentation ceremony, Her Excellency the First Lady, Professor Gertrude Mutharika paid a visit to the University’s Third Hospital to appreciate the different innovations and advancements that the hospital has made and what is does in a bid to provide necessary support and care to those in need.
It is here that the First Lady was pleased to take note of what the facility is doing in breaking the chains of infertility through different innovations like in vitro fertilization. This is in line with Her Excellency’s task as the Ambassador of the Merck “More than a Mother” Initiative – which aims at breaking infertility stigma in Malawi.